WISE GUY: Mustangs, Blue Devils make good rivals

Lutheran North plays at Richmond on Friday in one of the more compelling Week 9 games on the Macomb County schedule.

The Mustangs and Blue Devils both are 5-3, so to the winner goes a berth in the state playoffs.

Lutheran North and Richmond have a nice rivalry going in football.

Theyíve met in Week 9 each of the last six years, with the Mustangs going 4-2. Richmondís 26-20 overtime victory in 2009 was one of the better games of the series.

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The Wise Guy is a football guy, but he keeps up with other high school sports.

And he wonders why Richmond and Lutheran North donít meet more often, in other sports.

Whatís more, the Wise One wonders why the Mustangs and Blue Devils arenít in the same league, or if anyone even considered a conference with Lutheran North and Richmond as cornerstones.

When the Southern Thumb Association broke up soon after the start of the 21st century, and there were on-again, off-again rumblings that some schools werenít happy as members of the Macomb Area Conference, a window of opportunity existed for the creation of a new league.

Richmond and Armada went from the STA to the new Blue Water Area Conference, joining the likes of Yale and Croswell-Lexington.

Memphis, which had been in the STA, went to the North Central Thumb League before moving to the Greater Thumb Conference, and New Haven, another former STA school, played an independent schedule for a couple of years before hooking on with the MAC.

Later on, the changeable Metro Conference, whose schools were spread out geographically, broke apart and Lutheran North landed in the Catholic League.

The Wise Guyís space is limited, and his readersí time is valuable, so weíll keep this short.

But it is worth asking whether a league built around Lutheran North, Richmond, New Haven, Armada and Memphis was ever discussed. Would it have been feasible?

No conference is perfect for every school in every sport.

But what gave rise to leagues of yore, like the Bi-County, Macomb-Oakland and Eastern Michigan loops, were schools relatively close geographically, with similar enrollments and comparable athletic agendas.

Lutheran North isnít allowed to compete in Catholic League tournaments, like the league cross country meet.

Richmond teams make a bunch of trips to Lexington every school year.

Itís something to think about.

Here is the Week 9 forecast:

FRIDAY, OCT. 19

LUTHERAN NORTH at RICHMOND: Lutheran North tries to snap a three-game losing streak. North by 4.

PORT HURON at CHIPPEWA VALLEY: The Big Reds have not played the Big Reds since a 2007 playoff game. Chippewa Valley needs a win to get a playoff berth. CV by 2.

CLINTONDALE at SOUTH LAKE: Clintondale is the only county team with a chance to have a 9-0 regular season. Clintondale by 11.